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Cowbell Corner

Regional Preview: Huskies Bringing Dominant Pitching Staff to Tallahassee

Mississippi State's first NCAA Regional opponent may not have played the hardest schedule, but its pitching staff still ranks as one of the best in the nation.
Taylor Hodges|
Mississippi State interim head coach Justin Parker walks in the dugout between innings of the game with Texas A&M in the first round of the SEC Baseball Tournament at the Hoover Met.
Mississippi State interim head coach Justin Parker walks in the dugout between innings of the game with Texas A&M in the first round of the SEC Baseball Tournament at the Hoover Met. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Northeastern, the Coastal Athletic Association champion, isn’t a team many coaches want to face.

The Huskies (48-9) have won 27 consecutive games, have lost just nine games all season, and have one of the best pitching staffs in the nation. They’re hot at the right time and anyone who has watched postseason baseball knows how important pitching is.

So, yes, Mississippi State has a very tough challenge on its hands. The Bulldogs face Northeastern in the first round of the Tallahassee NCAA Regional at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Northeastern leads the nation in team ERA (2.86), shutouts (17), hits allowed per nine innings (6.95), WHIP (1.04) and walks allowed per nine innings (2.43). The Huskies are tied with Arkansas for highest strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.49).

Seven pitchers have ERAs less than 3.00 and Will Jones’s 1.82 ERA is the best of any pitcher in the NCAA Tournament (only Yale’s Jack Ohman has a better ERA), hasn’t allowed a run in nearly a month and hasn’t thrown a wild pitch all season.

Jones is Northeastern’s ace pitcher, but the Huskies’ other two starters would be aces on nearly any other team. Jordan Gottesman is 9-2 with a 2.30 ERA and 91 strikeouts. Aiven Cabral is 10-2 with a 2.74 ERA and only 14 walks given up.

The bullpen won’t offer any relief for opposing batters, either. Five bullpen pitchers have 15 or more innings pitched and the highest ERA of those five is 3.16 and three or lower than 2.00. Charlie Walker may be the best of the group with a .70 WHIP and seven saves in 45.2 innings. He also has 51 strikeouts and has allowed only five walks and six earned runs.

It’s crazy how good the Huskies have been on the mound. They haven’t been nearly as good at the plate (.290 BA, .867 OPS, .476 SLG%), but they are second in the nation in stolen bases (192) and fourth in stolen bases per game (3.37). (Mississippi State, this season, has allowed opponents 59 stolen bases).

Harrison Feinberg and Cam Maldonado are the Huskies’ two best hitters. Feinberg is batting .379 with 18 home runs, 66 RBIs and 29 stolen bases. Maldonado is batting .371 with 15 home runs, 59 RBIs and 29 stolen bases.

Now, there’s one caveat that hasn’t been mentioned that you’ve been waiting for. Northeastern’s strength of schedule is 189th and its non-conference SOS is slightly better at 167. The Huskies’ best wins came against UConn (3-0) Kansas State, twice (11-4 and 5-3).

Exclude a February game against the Boston Red Sox, Mississippi State will be the best team the Huskies have faced all year. But that doesn’t mean the Huskies will be any easier for the Bulldogs.

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

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